Hey, i'm very interested in doing kung-fu, but my family can't afford it so i'm waiting until I go to college to do it. So i decided to spend this time conditioning my body for the rigors of kung fu and work on fundamentals. What are some good ways and exercises to prepare my body and build a proper foundation for kung fu. I know that stance training is a must but i also need info on stretching, balance, and body control exercises. If u give any input or recommend resources that show and give direction on how to perform the exercises and basic techs correctly for kung fu. If it helps, i'm thinking along the lines for preparation for Hung gar, Lohan, or Choy Li fut kung fu but anything to help my kung fu is great.

You'll still be okay to work on all that once you start your training. The reason I don't recommend you trying to do things on your own, is that wrong form can lead to fairly serious injuries on the long run. It really does take someone whatching over you to show you what's correct or not.

But don't get me wrong. There are things you can do right now. Stretching is a good one to work on, specially since you're still young. (High school right?). Just stretch like you would for sports. (Those basic touch the toes deals, etc.) You may also want to work your endurance. I found that playing sports and jogging/running help a lot when it came to kung-fu endurance. I mean, they'res still quite a bit different, but getting your muscles going and exercising your lungs help.

yes i agree just do basic things that you already know like push ups and jogging and things along those lines but you must be careful because it's easy to over work your body and injure it. do not strain yourself because it can lead to serious injuries. and if you do not eat healthy then that's something you should think about also. and drink alot of water because soda is pretty bad for you.

First, do fingertips push-ups daily. Start with a wall and slowly working down to the floor.

Do not straigthen your finger knuckles; keep them roundish as if holding a baseball.

After a month or so, tense your fingers and palms and hold the tension for up to 5 minutes (like a tiger claw, with fingers spread out) WITHOUT tensing your triceps; very important, do not tense your triceps.

Your can also do the 'horse-stance' with your hands. Go down normally as in a floor push-up, and instead of going up and down, just go down half way and stay there for as long as you can. BREATHE HARD -- in the nose, out the mouth. Have you ever wonder why tigers (the animal) have such powerful forearm strikes?

In any MA, waist flexibility is very important, as strikes can come from any direction, not just the front. So do lots of waist twistings, turnings and bendings.

Get some strong ankles by doing ankle lifts; all the jumping and leaping puts great pressure there and the first places to get injured.

At the end of 6 months, get a hard broom stick, cut it down to about 10 inches. While watching TV or just lazing around, hold it with both hands in any way you like and do 'static twists' -- one hand opposing the other and staticly holding the position for up to 5 mins for each hand combination / position that your fertile imagination can come up with. Some using more of the wrist strength, others the fingers only and some get your upper-arm and shoulders into it.

Always remember to breathe -- in the nose, out the mouth.

If you can keep the whole program up daily for 6-9 months, you will know why they were chosen as your preliminary introduction.

Quote:Have you ever wonder why tigers (the animal) have such powerful forearm strikes?

Cause they're %75 muscle and weigh 600lbs?

Really? a tiger has 450lbs of muscle? So the bones, entrails, skin etc. and some fat make up only 150lbs?

Actually I was thinking of saying a tiger has such powerful forearm strikes is because it walks on its hands and hence the need for humans to do horse-stance for the hands to get that kind of power. So, Sanchin31 (or is it 32 now?) here is another chance to humour us with some more of your wit and witticism, please.

By the way, how's your chemo. doing? Nausea? Yeah, I've been there; had it for more than 6 months.

Quote: Really? a tiger has 450lbs of muscle? So the bones, entrails, skin etc. and some fat make up only 150lbs?

Don't know really. I'll do some research and get back to you.

Quote:Actually I was thinking of saying a tiger has such powerful forearm strikes is because it walks on its hands and hence the need for humans to do horse-stance for the hands to get that kind of power. So, Sanchin31 (or is it 32 now?) here is another chance to humour us with some more of your wit and witticism, please.

OK! I'm still 31 for another month and tigers don't have hands. Thanks for putting up with me.

Quote: By the way, how's your chemo. doing? Nausea? Yeah, I've been there; had it for more than 6 months.

Then you know. I had a week treatment and was sick for a week. I'll start over next week,thanks for asking.

_________________________ Skinny,Bald,and Handsome! Fightingarts Warrior of the year

Good tips everyone. One of the best for kicks and legs, besides rigorous stance work, is doing the basic kicks (front, side, back, round) and doing them slowly. Hold them out for long periods of time, with both hands in front of you (not at the side counterbalancing), try holding it first in the chambered position (roundhouse 90 degrees and as high as possible), then in the fully extended position. Then you can alternate between full speed and this slow tension excercises. Your balance will also improve, not only will you be able to deliver power kicks quickly, but you will be able to do it more than once on one leg.

Push ups are good, like some people said, finger tip, and holding yourself above the ground, about 1-3 inches, then SLOWLY pushing yourself up, and slowly letting yourself back down. Sitting in a horse stance and punching as hard and as fast as you can, while exhaling sharpy is great. Make sure all your power comes from the whipping of the waist, and that your arms are relaxed, but straight and structured.

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well i wouldn't do the fingertip push ups because that is really over straining your fingers and on top of that the worse part is is that in my opinion and i think a doctor would agree with me that doing such things as finger push ups will eventrully cause bad joint problems in your fingers. i myself will only do palm push ups and fist pushs these alone are very effective if done right in my opinion finger push ups are not worth it i wouldn't want to risk destroying my joint's in my fingers just for my fingers to be a little stronger but that me. it's up to you to figure out what you want to do. i'm just letting you know that finger push ups are not really that helpful and their at least for me not worth risking my joints in my fingers over. no offence to anyone i just don't think their worth risking my finger joints and cause all kind of pain like ten years down the road or whenever they start to feel the effects from the strain on the joints. also i wouldn't over practice air punching which is proven that it causes damage to your joints in your arms and so on for all the other parts of your body. believe me having strong fingers is really not going to help you win a fight. it's just not worth the health risk in my opinion. everything that you do should be done in small dose's and should be balanced out so not to cause injurie or other health problems.

Quote:well i wouldn't do the fingertip push ups because that is really over straining your fingers and on top of that the worse part is is that in my opinion and i think a doctor would agree with me that doing such things as finger push ups will eventrully cause bad joint problems in your fingers.

I hate to say it, but I don't think there is anything that prepares you for Kung Fu training. Being flexible is helpful. But Kung Fu stances are like no other exercise that I have ever experienced.

I was forced by a move to quit Savate and American Boxing because of my move. I use to live in Detroit and I trained under Julian Loredo who was an excellent trainer and a great fighter, I hated to lose him as a trainer. I moved to the East Coast so I had always wanted to learn Kung Fu, so I gave Northern Chinese Long Fist a try. Kung Fu stances are hard even though I came from a kicking and strengthing background. The flexibility was a plus, but I had to practice the stances religiously in order to get them to work for me. I had no choice but to practice holding low tigers, lotus, and horse stances until my legs started to burn. Then go through that day after day until I could transition between stances. I had to practice those stances and build some stamina in my legs before I could do the forms, luckily I had the flexibility so that I did not have to fight that to.

Kung Fu is hard stance work, but I wish that I would have had that kind of training before I started Savate and full contact, because it is an excellent foundation. I really enjoy Kung Fu, and I have a lot of respect for it's hardcore training.

Well I remember when I started Kung Fu that I wished I were more aerobically in-shape before. I suggest going through a normal warm up routine like you would do with any sport, but adding a couple of things:

Plyometrics: Do ankle hops, double leg jumps, and single leg jumps as fast and as high as you can get them. This helps with fast-twitch muscle response, and if you want to get into aerial techniques (very fun), you'll need height and control in your jumps.

Stretching: Flexibility never hurts. I suggest trying to get as close to the splits as you can. I found once I got my splits, I was able to lock into my low stances much easier.

All the other suggestions people have already posted are good. Don't train too much though, because trying to do consecutive tornado kicks in your garage is sure to lead to at least a headache...

If you're near a gym or if you have the money to afford one, I highly recommend you begin training on heavy bags. It's fairly hard to hurt yourself on a heavy bag (except in a couple ways, which I will address) and it's a great way to start conditioning your knuckles, wrists, shins, and feet. You may start on a 100 lbs. bag, or a 150 lbs. bag, whichever you feel comfortable with, however I wouldn't recommend going lighter or heavier than that. Punch the bag straight on (no john wayne style hook punches as you can role your hand and hurt your wrists if you haven't already strengthened them) and throw roundhouse kicks (don't worry so much about form for now, as every art will vary slightly, just make sure you connect with the shin. As always, with punches or kicks, don't aim to 'hit' the bag, aim through the bag and strike as if you're punching or kicking to infinite space. Once you start feel comfortable with your strikes (don't rush yourself, if it takes a few days or a couple weeks of practicing before you start to feel comfortable laying into the bag, that's fine. You have your whole life to train and condition yourself, rushing will only lead to injury which will slow you down) begin to do 30-second or 1-minute drills where you continually kick the bag with the same shin over and over as fast and as hard as you can. Make sure you reset the strike back to a neutral position so you can maximum power every time and don't give up!

If you find your knuckles start to bleed, invest in a set of light-weight, leather only punching bag gloves. Eventually they should toughen up and you'll find, if you're careful, that you won't need them. Also, if you begin to feel an aching sensation in your wrist then you should buy some wrist-wraps and wrap your wrists during practice until the pain goes away. It's very common (in fact, almost 100% of the time) to develop "boxer's sprain" where the radius and ulna begin to separate, however, there's no reason for it to become a serious problem if you address it appropriately.

Quote:And so my advice for those who wish to have an almost invincible defence like me is. Stand and let someone hit you square on the sternum so hard that you fracture it. And then when you can breath again, which will be about a week later, go back to class and spar everyday for 30 minutes or so against someone who likes to spar rough like we did in class

I do believe this is the single most stupid and irresponsible post I have ever seen. If this is supposed to be a joke or sarcasm, it did not work. For someone of your supposed vast amount of training, you are not very good at taking into account the beginners that may be reading garbage like that.

_________________________"In case you ever wondered what it's like to be knocked out, it's like waking up from a nightmare only to discover it wasn't a dream." -Forrest Griffin

Quote:And so my advice for those who wish to have an almost invincible defence like me is. Stand and let someone hit you square on the sternum so hard that you fracture it. And then when you can breath again, which will be about a week later, go back to class and spar everyday for 30 minutes or so against someone who likes to spar rough like we did in class. I well absolutely guarantee you will quickly develop the most awesome defence possible. Like they say, no pain no gain. You can thank me later.

Guy

I'm sorry, I have to call 'teenage troll' on this character. The evidence is just too strong!

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Quote: I'm sorry, I have to call 'teenage troll' on this character. The evidence is just too strong!

I have found from experience that dudes who have a fixation on my personality and that is all they want to talk about, well how should I put this mildly, their desires lack integrity with their gender and I immediately end any association with them.

Quote: And so my advice for those who wish to have an almost invincible defence like me is. Stand and let someone hit you square on the sternum so hard that you fracture it. And then when you can breath again, which will be about a week later, go back to class and spar everyday for 30 minutes or so against someone who likes to spar rough like we did in class

HAHAHA [Laughs like a rabies ridden hyena]. I thought this guy was stupid, but no longer do I think. He is. That statement is so out of truth, it's not even funny.

I assume, he's some type of new inbred of troll that is able to camoflauge himself to appear as a MA master. Still, troll's a troll. They appear and go away.

Back to topic.

Plyometrics. Lightweight weight training, with more reps and sets. That should help your body become stronger while not developing Arnold type muscles.

Run as often as you can. You need your legs to relax and tense up every now and then.

-Taison out

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I got two fists.. Don't make me use my head as well!

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Quote:I'm not going away. I'm here to stay. I'm just no longer responding to the posts.

Apparently you are.

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